


Bedside Manner

by ComicsCorner



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Doctor/Patient, Episode: s01e03 The Sin, Injury Recovery, Mando Gets Lectured, No Romance, Original Character(s), Tie-in's, Visit to the Doctors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:48:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22054330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ComicsCorner/pseuds/ComicsCorner
Summary: The Mandalorian takes the Asset to the guild physician before delivering him to the client.
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Kudos: 42





	Bedside Manner

The Mandalorian walked the crowded streets of Nevarro with the asset close by, his eyes shifting for any potential threats. The cradle door closed to ensure he remained out of sight until they reached their destination. The streets of the city were buzzing with the usual patrons and vendors of the day. Familiar faces speaking a variety of familiar and unfamiliar words. The child cooed excitedly in his pod, more than anxious to take in his new surroundings, but the hunter had been insistent on keeping the capsule closed for the asset’s safety. Turning a few more corners, keeping his route away from the crowded streets wishing not to draw attention. Relief came over him when their intended location came into view.

A sign hung under the front canopy, a bright red medical insignia which indicated that the place is open. Knocking on the door then taking a step back to patiently wait for an answer. It took longer than usual, strange for a clinic like this. Banging on the door again it zipped open before the Mando could take a step back.

He froze when he came face to face with the owner of the clinic. An older woman, only a head shorter than him met his gaze with her own stern dark eyes. A look this stern wasn’t unfamiliar to the Mandalorian but it was rare at times. 

She had cut her hair last time he had seen her. Her long, grey dreadlocks now stretched down to her chin. Her darker skin shimmered in the sun, the wide cut emerald dress and tribal obi she wore shuffled as her walking pace increased when she made her way to the other side of the room to close the blinds of her home which was much like the compound the hunter had gone to meet his client in. The central area served as both the clinic's kitchen, dining area and most importantly, hospital. A series of cots lined the wall each with a curtain for privacy. Crates of organized supplies lined the back wall. The opposite side of the room held a door that led to the Doctors room. Old masses of medical equipment, bone scanners, limb repair units, along with a workstation for certain hunters with biomechanical appendages. The clinic supplied care for the entirety of the planet which wasn’t a big population to begin with, but its main source of income were guild members who paid Doctor Ta’du Cabe and her staff very handsomely for their good work.

Needless to say, Doctor Cabe did not look pleased. The sleeves of her grey undershirt were rolled up to her elbows and he could tell that the surface of her hands was wet. One hand on her hip while the other pressed against her kitchen counter looking more unamused than ever before the countless times, he had seen her. “You have some explaining to do.” Snapping her fingers, Cabe pointed to another sign near her door that read in perfectly clear in aurebesh and a handful of other languages, _“Leave weapons at the door, please.”_ This is a non-negotiable term for all who came for care.

A medical droid which Ta’s assistant had affectionately named MADS brought a crate full of supplies to Ta’du’s attention. _“Mistress?”_

“Sort it with the rest.” She said before turning back to the Mando, her narrowed eyes not wavering. “You are aware that the bylaws of the guild state that hunters don’t kill other hunters, correct?” The question had been clearly rhetorical so an answer hadn’t been in order. “Do you have any idea the position you’ve put my business in? Word starts getting around that people in the Bondsmen Guild starts killing their own members and soon members will be flocking to other guilds which means they won’t be coming to us for MED care which means we’ll be out of a job.” The Mando made no effort to cut the woman off, in many ways she’s right. Hunters weren’t going to like sharing a guildhall with a hunter who would kill them when their backs were turned.

The Mando turned his head only slightly when the door to the house greenery parted and a young Pantoran female entered. In her hands, she held some type of flora that he couldn’t begin to identify. Setting the plant down of the living room counter she turned to her employer about to speak but quickly stopped herself upon both seeing the hunter as well as seeing Doctor Cabe clearly in the middle of a lecture. Zell Leos as she goes by turned her gaze away from the pair and continued with her work clearly not wanting to get involved.

“I’m not sure if what I’m saying is resonating with you at all, but I’m certain that what or whomever you were after wasn’t worth killing another hunter over. But I suppose money is money to people like you. Why should you care how your actions affect the rest of us?” The way she had said _you people_ hadn’t settled well in the Mando.

He locked his gaze on the young woman who had walked out of the house greenery only moments ago. She hadn’t made an attempt to stop her employers scolding of the hunter, past experience had made her learn such a task was pointless. Doctor Cabe being a very warm, compassionate, no-nonsense woman so rarely kept her opinions to herself and (as the Mando was now relearning) wasn’t afraid of chewing up and spitting out those who rightfully deserved it.

Zell looked him over only giving a soft smile to him trying to reassure that Ta’du’s rant wouldn’t last long and perhaps silently apologizing for if it did. The left side of her head was shaved away, the remainder of her pink pastel hair sat parted on the opposite side of her head in a mohawk that was tied at the very end. She wore a deep beige, long-sleeved tunic that reached just above her clothed knees, her right sleeve baring the same red medical symbol as Ta’s and the sign that hung outside their door.

Looking him over again just to see if there was any physical damage to his stance, perhaps a slouch indicated that he’s hurt. All she could see was his thumb arched out, pointing at the pod capsule now much closer to Zell than himself. He gestured to it again subtly, not wanting Cabe to catch sight of it, but he’s clearly giving Zell signs to open it. Her face didn’t hide her skepticism toward the request concerning the pod. For all she knew the capsule held the severed head of some form of renegade terrorist or a bribed public official’s left ear.

But the Mandalorian wouldn’t be so suddenly cruel to show her something so grotesque just for his own amusement…. would he? Despite every instinct telling her no, Zell slowly made her way over to the pod while Ta continued to lecture their guest. Her trembling finger pressed the release switch, opening the pod and making her jump back in response. Her body tense and eyes shut tightly, counting the seconds in her mind, becoming relieved that the capsule didn’t explode and quickly feeling ashamed for assuming it would. Her yellow eyes fluttered open when a soft and gentle cooing sounded in her ears.

Her mouth falls open in pure disbelief at what she saw staring back at her. Slowly turning to her agitated boss who unsurprisingly had still been tearing into the Mandalorian. Zell found herself unable to speak. “Ta…Ta’du.” She stammered.

Doctor Cabe held up her hand to silence her assistant. “In a moment Zell.” Her eyes hadn’t left the Mando. “You need to find Greef and explain to him that-“

“Ta.” Zell spoke, this time louder than before. Still the doctor did not look. “Ta’du!” She rose to a level the Mando had never heard from her before. And from the look on Doctor Cabe’s face neither had she. Cabe ceased her lecture to meet her assistances eyes. The doctor’s expression matching what Zell had only moments ago upon opening the capsule. The Mandalorian found himself shocked that the Doctor rushed right past him to look over the child, looking quite afraid that it had sustained any form of harm.

“You.” She mumbled, her lips barely separating to form the word. Her eyes glared at him so intensely. The Mando actually took a step back when the woman fiercely walked up to him again. “This will be the one time that I will not condone your silence.” She pointed to the infant that Zell still had cradled in her arms. “Start talking, Mando! What are you doing with this child?”

“Something you’d like to tell us?” Zell asked, laughing as the infant pulled at a strand of beads in her hair.

The doctors dagger eyes stayed on him still. “Start…talking.”

* * *

“A Mud Horn huh?” She sounded as if she didn’t believe him when in reality, she had heard crazier things from other patients. She didn’t ask any further questions afterward which helped the Mando in regards to not having to provide a cover story for how he had gotten out of the situation, he trusts Cabe and Leos, but trusting them with what he had witnessed the child do he still wasn’t sure. Despite the fact that she’s displeased with the Mando’s current intentions she still maintained her professional and gentle nature while tending to his bruised ribcage. The flesh was coated in an array of black and blue yet surprisingly no bones appeared broken. Her hands were soft and warm, reminding Mando of his mother, he believed at some point of her life Ta’du was once a mother herself, she had this way to her that greatly supported those suspicions. Once securing the final bacta patch around the lower part of her patients’ sternum the Doctor rose from her sitting position on the cot, pulling the curtain around the bed allowing the Mando privacy while he got dressed.

The covert had been on this world long before Doctor Cabe had arrived to become a physician for the community. The Mando had been told there had been an incident involving another of his kind, one with both a high ranked name and house to match. Apparently Cabe had saved her life and had been rewarded greatly for her efforts. The Mandalorian’s gave her the name Aruetii Baar'ur. Knowing that she could be trusted many members of the covert went to Cabe for medical treatment, she had even helped in the deliveries of quite a few children born amongst the covert.

The child wandered around the safety of Doctor Cabe’s home in complete awe, taking in the vibrant sights and smells of the home. He wasn’t sure of why his protector had brought him here, but so far, he liked it. “Hold still.” Zell spoke sweetly to the child, running a scanner over its eyes than reading the data the device had collected aloud. “Say’s here this little guy is perfectly healthy.”

“Thank goodness.” Ta’du glared at the hunter when he reentered the kitchen.

The Mando replied stiffly, “I wasn’t hired to hurt him.” Ta’du scoffed, rolling her eyes to such a statement, part of her not fully believing it.

“So, this Imperial remnant is paying you to retrieve then bring them this child?” Zell repeated the Mando’s words after rolling one of the decretive orbs from around Ta’du’s house toward the child, who giggled excitedly as he waddled after it. The Mando simply nodded his head watching Zell play with the asset.

Ta cocked an eyebrow, her chin resting against her palm. “And you didn’t find that at all suspicious?”

“They just told me that he’s fifty years old. I didn’t think that meant a kid.”

Ta shook her head, staring at the infant and thinking about every possible reason as to why this Imperial remnant would want this child. “I can’t believe Greef would allow something like this.” She’s an older woman only a few years younger than Greef who she happened to be close friends with. How they had met is still unclear to both the Mando and Zell.

“He may not have known,” Mando replied, rolling the orb across the floor again when it came to his feet. Even he knew that that response was rancor shit. To someone like Karga and business he runs, money is money who gives a damn about the details?

Zell and Cabe appeared to agree with him on that fact. “That’s still no excuse.” Ta’du rose from her seat at the table where she and the hunter sat. Gathering the glasses from the table muttering to herself.

Quickly walking toward her front closet to retrieve her wrap and hood from a cabinet near her door. “Where are you going?” Zell asked not liking the look in her boss’s eyes.

“I’m getting this straightened out.” The doctor looked back to her medical droid then pointed to the Mando. “MADS, don’t let him leave with that infant. If he tries to…. stun him.” The droid nodded when the Doctor left her home without another word. MADS positioned himself in front of the door. The droid wasn’t like standard-issue medical droids. Zell had built him from a variety of parts she had found over the years. She had apparently built him as an enforcer to protect both her and Cabe in case the clinic were ever under threat, that and he served as good muscle to handle specific tasks.

Rising to her feet, the child in hand Zell then placed the tired little thing back into the carrier, then turned her attention to the child’s protector. “You have anything you need me to look at? Burns, cuts…. a concussion maybe?” She joked terribly, knowing full well that she would get no audio response from the hunter and even if he cracked a smile, she’d never known. The Mando said nothing but did reveal the cut on his arm he had sustained by the Trandoshins. Zell gave a nod then retreated to the many cabinets that held a variety of tools and equipment. Sitting back at the table she laid out her tools as the child watched with profound interest in his big eyes. “I thought I told you to stop using welding tools.” She said, examining the wound and recognizing the blistered skin that had been left behind by the instrument. 

“I didn’t have anything else on hand.” Zell rolled her eyes before retrieving a field cauterizer from the Med pack, an actual appropriate tool for sealing open wounds. Running a sanitation cloth gently against the damaged skin, cleaning the surface from the dried blood and dirt. The substance stung but it hadn’t been anything the Mando hadn’t felt before. There are worse forms of pain. Zell gripped the Mando’s arm and began to run the tool against the gash. He flinched for a moment when the cauterizer made contact with the raw surface of his skin. Quiet groans left his lips as the gadget sparked.

The two sat in silence while Zell worked, but even that didn’t last long. “Look…I don’t ask questions because it’s against guild policy for you and the others to answer. And if it weren’t, I still wouldn’t want to know who you all have to hunt down or kill for money.” The Mando wouldn’t have told her anything even if she would ask, Zell is far from naïve, to her, bad people are bad people and the Mando had been convinced that this skinny and kind Pantoran may have killed two or three people herself, whether out of self-defense, revenge or for money he had no idea. “But I’m going to speak my mind on how shady this all is.”

Either way he wasn’t in the mood for another lecture. “I didn’t know the details.” He repeated exactly what he had said to Cabe.

Zell narrowed her eyes while placing a bacta patch over the sealed cut. “Would you still have taken the job if you had?” The Mando’s lack of answer ended up answering her question. “I see.” She sighed then gazed back to the child who had been chewing on the orb Zell and he had been playing with only a little while ago. “They must be paying you a lot just to bring this little guy to them.” The hunter tapped his finger against the side of his helmet. Zell’s eyes grew when she caught on to what he was stating. Even someone like her knew how valuable such a commodity is in the known galaxy, especially to someone like him. “Wow…pretty big deal for you huh?”

The child whimpered when his toy orb fell from his tiny grasp, hitting the floor and rolling again by his protectors’ feet. Zell smiled upon witnessing the Mando hand the small creature the toy again. His kindness surprised her at times, though it was not unexpected. The Mandalorian had been nothing but kind to her and Doctor Cabe. Her wore his strictness well, but every so often he let it slip away.

Zell’s smile dropped before the Mando looked at her again, noticing that her working hands had released his arm indicating she had finished tending to him. MADS hadn’t left his position since Ta had left and instructed him to stay put. Zell rose just as quickly as the Mando had, then putting herself between him and the pod. “If you’re intent on taking him to your client, I need to know.” She had no chance of stopping him, they both knew that. But she was gonna try her damn hardest if that’s what would be required.

“Stand aside, Zell.” The Mando warned, not at all threateningly.

Zell met the child’s eyes then with where she believed the Mando’s to be. Standing her ground, she spoke firmly. “I’m sorry, I can’t do that.” She was praying that the hunter would see her fear, maybe that would spark in his head how bad this entire situation is. “Please, just-“ Her words were suddenly cut off, she had been stunned before she could do anything else. Catching her in his arms before she collapsed the Mando check the young assistants pulse just to ensure that she was in fact still breathing. He had no intent to kill her over this or in general, she was only trying to do what she thought is best, though she and Cabe may never forgive him for this. Which then begged the question of why he came here. Perhaps to knock sense into him, give clarity to his troubled mind?

“Hold Mandalorian!” MADS ordered, advancing on the hunter with a surprisingly fast approach. “Hold-“ But the droid went down only seconds later, same as Zell. Mando hung over the droid, making certain that it wouldn’t be getting back up again. Stunning him and Leos would prove unfavorable to Doctor Cabe when she returns home. Before leaving, the Mandalorian gently place the young woman on one of the medical cots. The child cooed sympathetically toward her. She would defiantly not forgive him for that and he may not either.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I used Ta'du Cabe from my "Respite" story. I'd been meaning to write her into this series since the beginning, just got sidetracked with other projects.


End file.
